The Holland Project’s open mic night hostess Emma Ashley has a unique experience setting up events in Reno, building her career path and life with her child from the ground up.
The Holland Project is a venue where people of all ages can come to watch shows, host events and help with volunteer work, among other activities. The Holland Project has been around since 2006, allowing multiple artists and people through its doors.
Emma Ashley, now 22 years old, first hosted organized open mic nights with The Holland Project two years ago. Since then, she has planned and organized these events yearly. Ashley says her most exciting open mic night was the first one she ever did, in 2023.
Ashley started with a program called Youth Bloom at the Holland Project while she attended Reno and Wooster high schools. Shortly after graduating, she wanted to keep hosting events. She was 18, however, and couldn’t participate in the youth groups anymore. She soon had the idea to change the open mic night events to reach a more mature audience. Ashley then reached out to The Holland Project to open up her own space for adults.
“It was just this urge,” Ashley said. “I knew I wanted to try it.”
Though she’s still a volunteer at the venue and not an employee, she’s made herself intimately familiar with logistics, event setup and the work of its existing staff.
Ashley also balances plenty on the side, between pursuing a legal degree online at Purdue University, working a day job at Apple and raising her two-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, as a single mother on top of her multiple careers.
“As a young mom…it can definitely be difficult to manage the responsibilities of parenting and raising a young child, while still trying to take advantage of everything that there is to offer,” Ashley said.
And even if she makes it look easy, Ashley’s biggest issue when working as a hostess for open mic is her severe stage fright. As someone who loves to organize events but hates going up on stage, Ashley said she would often ask a close friend or other artists to perform instead.
All the same, Ashley recently faced her fears again and hosted April 8 from 7-9 p.m.
Although there will be no open mic night events hosted in May, Ashley and Arsal Ali partnered together to host the Underground Underdogs concert, featuring artists like Natalia Chacon, Precious, Xlaurae and eight other bands. The event will begin this Friday, May 2 at 7 p.m at the Holland Project.
Teagan Greer can be reached at teagang@unr.edu or on Instagram via @NevadaSagebrush.
